Welcome to this edition of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for reading the sermon this week. I hope that everyone is having a good week.
This has been a hard week. I started my new job. It is going pretty well, but it isn't quite what I thought it would be. Right now, I am just praying that I get paid on time like I am supposed to. Please pray that all will go well. This week has also been hard because I miss my two friends. One of my friends had a birthday this week. He would have been 53, but he died when he was 49. We knew each other since I was seven years old. This week was also my friend Toby's birthday, and I've been missing him even more than usual lately.
In prayer this week, please continue to pray that those who were injured in Sri Lanka and New Zealand will continue to recover. Pray for an end to terrorism around the world.
Please pray for those in Mozambique who are recovering from the storm damage. Many still need a lot of aid and assistance.
We need to continue to pray for peace in many troubled areas in this world. Please pray for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya.
For our prayer focus countries this week, please pray for those who live in the nation of Morocco and India. Pray that many will come to know of the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus.
For today's message, I want to focus on a passage in the book of Luke chapter 13 verses 23-27. This passage begins when someone asks Jesus if only a few people will be saved. Jesus does not directly answer the question. He says, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
What does this statement by Jesus mean? What relevance does it have for us today?
First of all, Jesus was speaking in the direct context of the time in which He was on the earth. Later in the passage, Jesus says that people will say that they ate and drank in His presence. However, Jesus says that He will tell them that He doesn't know who they are.This is a direct reference to the religious leaders of Jesus day. They thought that they were on the right path, but Jesus knew that they were hypocrites. They had the appearance of godliness. But Jesus said that they were like whitewashed graves. They looked good on the outside, but on the inside, they were full of dead men's bones.
Jesus' statement about entering the narrow gate has broader implications than this. I believe that what Jesus is saying is that He is the narrow gate. In John 10:7, Jesus says that He is the door of the sheep. He is the way. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
The Bible is quite clear that salvation is only possible through Jesus. Some will teach that everyone will be saved regardless of whether or not they have placed their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. This simply is not the teaching of the Word of God.
Let me provide a few Bible passages as evidence of my point. First of all, let's look at the words of Jesus Himself. In John 3:36 Jesus says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life: whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." In John 8:24 Jesus says,
I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." Lets look at one more. Jesus says in John 5:23 "... Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
Now. let's see what some other passages of Scripture have to say. In Acts 4:12, the apostle Peter said, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Paul says in I Timothy 1:5, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
The words of Jesus and the words of the rest of Scripture are quite clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Only through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus can a person inherit eternal life.
Many people that I know believe that they can achieve reconciliation with God by means of good works. However, the Bible is clear on this as well. Being good does constitute entering the narrow gate. Ephesians 2:8-9 make it clear by stating, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."
I started posting sermons on the blog several years ago because I wanted people to know about the love and mercy of Jesus. I wanted to let people know that Jesus loves them and wants them to come to Him. Jesus is the only way of salvation, and I invite you to come to know Him today.
Next week, I will be posting the sermon on Saturday. I will post the verses of the week on Monday. I will post a cat book review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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